How to Dissolve Karmic Obstacles

When studying Buddhism, at a certain point when you have made progress and are just about to advance, karmic obstructions will immediately block the way ahead. Karmic obstruction is something with eyes—it waits for you precisely at critical junctures, guarding the gateway of ascent. Those whose willpower is not quite strong enough will get stuck; those who are very weak will regress, and may even fall all the way back to where they started. I have seen many Buddhist practitioners who either get stuck or regress, and a few even lose faith in Buddhism altogether. If they merely lose faith, that is still understandable; what is frightening is if they then slander the Three Jewels and slander what they previously cultivated and learned—the consequences of that are terrifying just to think about.

The path of studying Buddhism is very difficult to walk, because everyone's karmic obstructions are heavy—the karma accumulated over beginningless kalpas is too much and too great. It is like rowing a boat against the current: if you do not advance, you retreat. Without the protection of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Dharma-protecting deities, none of us could achieve even the slightest accomplishment. The hurdle of karmic obstruction alone is something we could never get past on our own. The power of karmic obstruction is so great that we should all be extremely careful with our bodily, verbal, and mental actions, not creating evil karma, and not being overconfident.

Because every sentient being has undergone somewhat different experiences since beginningless kalpas, the nature and essence of each one's manas differs. The ox does have a nose ring, and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have skillful means to lead it—sometimes gently, sometimes firmly, sometimes through persuasion, sometimes through discipline—and in the end they can push sentient beings onto the path of liberation. The process in between is certainly full of twists and turns, and the road is certainly arduous; one must endure the bone-chilling cold before the refreshing fragrance of plum blossoms arrives.

When karmic obstructions manifest, how should one deal with them and get through? Willingly accepting them is one aspect, but actively working to transform karmic obstructions is also very important. Karma can be transformed; through keeping precepts, repentance, and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) with wisdom, karmic obstructions can all be transformed and lightened. Since beginningless kalpas, we have created countless evil deeds; relying solely on acceptance, we could not possibly bear them all or endure them to completion. Moreover, since afflictions have not been eradicated, we will continue creating evil deeds, forming new karmic obstructions. If the karma of hell manifests, how could one possibly bear it? After decades of painstaking Buddhist practice, if the karma of hell ripens at the time of death, would one willingly go to hell to undergo retribution? The ascetics who practiced immersion in ashes, in order to attain liberation, used the method of endlessly tormenting themselves and suffering, believing that in this way their karma would be eliminated and exhausted, and then they would be liberated. The Buddha said: with so much evil karma accumulated since beginningless kalpas, can it all be eliminated merely by suffering? Absolutely not. Therefore, passive acceptance alone is not the ultimate method; one must also actively use wisdom to eliminate and transform it.

How does one transform it with wisdom? Because karmic obstructions arise from foolishness and ignorance (avidyā)—taking the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) to be a real self, and creating karmic obstructions for the sake of that self—one must now eradicate foolishness and ignorance by contemplating that the five aggregates are without self. Since there is no self, the evil karma created for the sake of the self also does not exist. Once the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) is eradicated, the portion of karmic obstructions belonging to the three evil destinies will be eliminated. The greater one's wisdom, the more foolishness and ignorance is broken through, and the more and greater the karmic obstructions eliminated. In this way, ignorance becomes ever thinner, and karmic obstructions ever lighter. Wisdom is like hot soup, and karmic obstructions are like hard ice; as long as you keep pouring hot soup over it, the hard ice will sooner or later melt away. In the end, one must also cultivate much merit: with great merit, one can suppress others; with little merit, one is suppressed. When merit is great, karmic obstructions will detour around you, and the path of studying Buddhism will go smoothly.